DRC: The European Parliament condemns the acts of violence and calls for inquiries into the crimes committed in Kasai

On January 18, 2018, the European Parliament adopted a resolution firmly condemning all the human rights violations committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), calling in particular for inquiries into the serious crimes committed in the Kasai provinces, in the central region of the country.

In its resolution, the European Parliament expressed its deep concern over the worsening of the crisis and the acts of violence, partly linked to the further postponement of the presidential, legislative and provincial elections. It expressed in particular its extreme concern over the “evidence from human rights organisations, in particular the December 2017 inquiry report of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) on the massacres in Kasai, according to which a ‘deliberate strategy of terror and destruction, which led to crimes against humanity’ is being perpetrated by the Congolese security forces and government-backed militias in Kasai province. The Parliament has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations to investigate the alleged crimes reported by FIDH and its member organisations in DRC, the Electors’ League (Ligue des Électeurs), the LOTUS group (Groupe LOTUS) and the African Association of Human Rights.

Late in 2017 FIDH published an inquiry report on crimes against humanity committed in the Kasai provinces, and urged that independent and impartial inquiries be instigated, in particular by the ICC, for the authors to be prosecuted and held to account and for the victims to obtain justice and reparation. The European Parliament’s resolution echoes the recommendations made by FIDH and its member organisations in DRC in the report and in their early 2018 advocacy, in particular towards the MEPs. Our organisations remain committed to the defence of human rights, to democratic changes of government and to the fight against impunity in DRC, in particular in connexion with the general elections, which should take place in 2018 after having been twice postponed.